The Threshold Falls (4/4)
After a few more minutes of fighting, one of Haalfrin's sword wills comes by and touches him on the forehead; then, he sees an image of a bloody hand and boot stuck on the wall of the cavern, as well as a ghastly bloodstain streaking all the way down to the floor... with a dragon skeleton picked clean of meat, and Faylin's tattered, bloody clothing in a pile.
Haalfrin lifts up the medallion around his neck and somberly tells the Commander, "I found them."
"Ok... Now come to the gate with us NOW!"
Perhaps it's because of his loyalty to Fisco, but Haalfrin almost instinctually picks up his weapon and runs for the Gate. However, he suddenly looks up and sees a large black crow circling the battlefield, and its eyes are glowing blue. "Freyya…," he whispers.
"What was that?" Fisco grumbles; Haalfrin hadn't cut off communication yet.
Haalfrin shakes his head. "…Just go on without me."
In that moment, as Haalfrin witnesses the endless horde of Ants slowly climbing over the final wall, he recalls an old memory – one where the old Emperor of Brancotte was giving him his slave collar. "At least you can serve your country," his majesty had said. "If you follow me, you can die in honor instead of shame."
Haalfrin then looks down at Resburn's body. "These soldiers have families too," he explains to Fisco before looking up at Freyya's Crow form circling the battlefield. "Me? I have nothing waiting for me on the other side of the World Gate; everything I love is right here."
"HAALFRIN! DON'T DISOBEY ME NOW!"
"FISCO!" Haalfrin shouts before going quiet again. "Just the survivors and go. I'll hold the Ants off by myself and let everyone escape."
"Haalfrin!" Fisco yells even more frantically, "THAT'S AN ORDER...!"
There is silence.
"FINE!" Fisco growls, "I didn't want to do this, you suicidal lunatic!"
Commander Fisco reaches into his own space bag and pulls out the scroll containing Haalfrin's slavery collar enchantment, and he presses his finger on it.
The collar starts to tighten around Haalfrin's neck – obviously a threat. Fisco knows Haalfrin wants to die in battle – not by execution.
Instead of freaking out or getting angry, Haalfrin calmly and anticlimactically rips the collar off directly with his hands. He then looks over at the tower where Fisco is and raises his eyebrows, as if to say, "Oh, please?"
Only now does Fisco realize that there's truly nothing he can do to keep Haalfrin alive. So, he grits his teeth, and when he telepathically called the rest of the soldiers, he momentarily chokes up, "G-get everyone out of here! E-everyone through the gate now!"
The last Fisco ever saw of Haalfrin was the man standing at the last entrance to the World Gate room. There, he's furiously punching Ants into oblivion, while a dragon bone ax floating behind him is pummelling the Ants trying to climb around him.
Just before Fisco disappears through the World Gate, he sees Haalfrin standing atop a pile of dead ants – laughing like a maniac. The death aura started swirling around the dragon slayer so thickly that it was actually visible to the naked eye.
Seeing such thick Death Aura, even the ever brave Commander Fisco nearly reels from fright and almost faints. His men who didn't look back end up carrying him the remaining feet to safety.
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Ever so slowly, the World Gate's green light slowly dims before settling on a dim glow. "It's sealed then," Haalfrin thinks.
Then, he looks over at the Ants who continue to pour into the room. Not wanting to waste mana pointlessly, he settles for killing the ants with physical blows instead of obliterating them with mana blasts.
"Haalfrin!" Dakka shouts at him, "I'm looking out the balcony in the other room, and all the Ants are converging here! Get ready!"
"Heh," Haalfrin smiles as he momentarily gets lost in thought, "All my previous attempts to die in combat were so childish before. Pointlessly throwing myself on a general's spear… pointlessly throwing myself at bandits… Pointlessly throwing myself at a dragon I didn't need to fight…"
He suddenly starts laughing as he continues to slaughter the Ants around him, "AHAHA! I guess I was so casual about my life's value that I was just trying to throw it away… after accomplishing NOTHING?!"
How childish. How lame. What's the point in dying if it doesn't accomplish anything? What greater purpose has he been serving but himself all this time?
Only now… only now does Haalfrin understand.
As he feels the Queen slowly approaching, Haalfrin truly feels that he is going to die here…, but sensing his impending doom, Haalfrin feels not only at peace, but also satisfied. Perhaps it's because he's feeling unimaginable pride, knowing that his death will have saved many lives.
"Instead of remembering me as a suicidal lunatic, they'll tell stories about me and my heroic sacrifice." He grits his teeth so hard that even the Ants flinch at the grinding noise. "Heh. I couldn't ask for a cooler way to die!"
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*Splash. Splatter. Crunch.* The scene is so brutal as countless Ants chatter in agony as their heads are twisted off their necks and their large bodies are stomped flat.
Even when the Queen approaches the World Gate room, the thick Death Aura surrounding the dragon slayer is so powerful that… she becomes genuinely afraid.
Still, instead of quivering unintelligibly like a normal person, the Queen hangs back and points at the Dragon Slayer. "Kill him, my children!"
Hopefully, the endless onslaught of Ants will wear the man down – just as they wore down Lord Kalkor before. Knowing that this man is as powerful as a 4 horned dragon, the Queen is even prepared to wait a couple of weeks to claim the kill.
"Heh," she thinks, "Since I'm standing at the only entrance to the World Gate room, the dragon slayer will stay inside and defend the Gate with his life – with no chance of escape. If he leaves through the Gate, I'll just follow after him. I win either way."
… What the Queen doesn't know is that with the Ants constantly getting slaughtered and releasing more Death Aura – coupled with the efficient way Haalfrin is using his mana… he'll never actually get tired.
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Haalfrin's slaughter in the World Gate room is so intense and methodical that he enters a sort of… meditation – a state of mind that's nearly as tranquil as Death itself.
"Yes..." he thinks, "what am I fighting for? Is it my love for Freyya and desire to serve her? Is it for my fallen comrades who are depending on me for vengeance? Is it even for my self-satisfaction – the sort of self-indulgence in my own skill? After all, I KNOW I'm powerful, and some primal part of me cries in joy when I get to use my power without holding back. No… Mabye not… Maybe so…?"
He actually thinks on this for several days… until he grows tired of it.
"Bah!" he grunts in his heart, "What's the point in worrying about such defined purpose? Do I really HAVE to define my life by a single, objective purpose? Maybe I want to make Freyya happy because I love her. Maybe I want to please my comrades and avenge them because I liked them. Maybe I just want to use my power because it feels good to validate the hundreds of years spent refining my skill….
"Either way, a MURDERER kills to satisfy his own carnal desire. A WARRIOR, however, doesn't kill pointlessly. It may not matter what exactly it is, but a WARRIOR always has some driving them forward – some goal to achieve."
"A sword with no intent – no Will – no HEART... is WEAK!"
"What do I Will upon the world? What do I fight for?"
"I serve the Crow Goddess above me. I will fight her wars and take what she wants."
"I serve the soldiers below me. Their loyalty and faith in me must be vindicated."
"I serve."
All his life, Haalfrin had fought for the selfish desire to die and satisfy the lonely feeling in his heart. Only now does he realize that he can be free from loneliness so long as he has duty to drive him.
As Haalfrin realizes this truth about himself in perfect clarity, he nearly breaks into tears…
… and he feels his Syl Name finally blossom and shine with brilliant violet light.